The Curse of the Ring of the Deadly Viper

The Curse of the Ring of the Deadly Viper

       by Double Glasses Reimer

you sniveling piece of pumpkin pie

The wind shifted sharply as they rounded Danger Point. Chet called for more windlass. Danny tried to play it out but the ropes caught and for a second their sails billowed uselessly. Fear gripped Danny's heart and his hands fell weakly to his sides. At that critical moment, however, he remembered what his father had always taught him, that in the hour of need the Lord can be depended upon to care for his children. Chet fell to his knees, praying with real conviction, and found himself suddenly strengthened enough to rise and tackle the sails once more. He shouted out encouragement from the foremast and soon they had their small ship plying the waves with the stout heart they all knew she possessed.  

       "Say, Joe, nice dreams?" called Chet to that sleepyhead tousling his own hair as he was wont to do when he first entered the world of the waking. Frank, on the steps below him, pushed at his brother, wanting to see what the chatter was about. He wore a nightshirt still, the one Fenton Hardy, his father, had presented him from his own extensive wardrobe. He'd purchased it in Istanbul on assignment there many years ago, an assignment of such a secret nature that he still would not discuss it, even with his sons to whom he entrusted most of his clandestine dealings.

       "What happened up here?" he suddenly shouted when he noticed the debris littering the upper deck. Frank was Joe's older brother and spoke always with an authority that the younger sometimes resented. Branches and bracken lay awash along the rails; bird feathers and flotsam had the deck resembling a nuisance ground.

       "We'll fill you lazy dudes in over breakfast," Chet laughed and instructed Danny to set the course straight ahead and tie the wheel in place. They filed into the hold for a bite of the fine food Fenton's cook, loaned to them for this trip, prepared with a good will each morning. The currents now less noticeable and the winds decidedly decreased since they'd rounded Danger Point, their sleek yacht rose and fell like a seagull on the briny in the stiff breezes off Cataraz. The sun shone down with a benign countenance. All seemed well. An hour from now, however, their strong backs and quick minds would be required of them against a threat far more fearsome than the waters had been.

       Fenton Hardy had made them a loan of Samuel the cook for a reason that he dare not tell his sons. He knew of the wildness of their project but also of its connection to evils greater than the boys had imagined. He battled within himself whether to let them go or even to alleviate their surprise on discovering later just what they were dealing with. But, his professional duty came before family needs. The agency had informed Fenton of the menace to the entire nation--nay, to the world--of the Ring of the Deadly Viper. Somewhere, off the east border of Spain, a group of gold diggers had set up a missile base with which it meant to disrupt the lava flows of the Kinley Range and divert its hidden wealth into a secret valley of which they alone knew the location.

       The accumulation of wealth in and of itself concerned the agency less than the possession of weapons of such massive destructive power as to be able to burrow far into the earth and there set off blasts enough to cause quakes and start and stop lava flows. Such activity threatened the fragile seismic stability the Pacific's tectonic plates. And, nations along the Pacific Rim might themselves be ready to employ nuclear weapons against the threat if they became aware of it, this threat of the villains busy in the remote Spanish mountains. Samuel was to keep an eye on the situation and inform Fenton at once if the boys came up against trouble they could not handle. An old hand at such encounters, with youngsters of great intelligence and experience already, despite their youth and boyish appearance, Samuel had willingly agreed to accompany the expedition, and he cooked with a hearty will the food that would prepare them most effectively for the onslaughts ahead.

       They dined today on Spanish sardines and toast and drank coffee imported from Germany. When their hunger was satisfied--all except Chet, whose appetite was an endless source of marvel among them--they stretched out on their bunks for a brief respite. They were all too aware that the next leg of the journey would require all their strength. A few minutes later a resounding "huzzah" from near the launch brought them all to their feet.

       "What was that!" Danny whispered. The boys raced to the deck and froze. Beside their ship loomed a vessel of such gigantic proportions that it made their boat seem like a skiff in comparison. It bristled with soldiers holding automatic weapons, all pointed at them.

       "Anzaitolic croajva ta slit maijolivic blie!" shouted a sailor in a voice that left no doubt about his mood.

       "Pardon me?" Frank replied, hunching up his shoulders to indicate that he did not understand. The commanding officer motioned toward Frank and shouted an order to his men. Ropes were flung over the side and twenty sailors swung down to them in an instant. The intruders tied the boys' hands and hustled them toward the ropes. The men above hauled away and soon the quartet stood aboard the dangerous vessel. No one had thought to look below decks where Samuel had hidden himself in a cubbyhole he had discovered in the kitchen under a counter. He stayed there, and when the other ship left he radioed Fenton the terrible news. What transpired next will have to wait till the next installment of "The Curse of the Ring of the Deadly Viper."